TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
A Toledo Catholic priest and former high school teacher convicted of child pornography charges in 2003 has resigned as volunteer coordinator for the Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity, Bishop Leonard Blair said yesterday.
Stephen G. Rogers, 57, who taught religion at Central Catholic High School from 1997 until his arrest, resigned Friday from Habitat after less than two months on the job. The resignation was ordered by Habitat for Humanity International, said Chuck Thayer, executive director of the Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Rogers began working full time at the local Habitat office July 18. Rogers, who served 18 months of a 21-month prison sentence, was barred from ministry and placed on leave of absence in December, 2002. Rogers, who remains a priest, is awaiting final disposition of his status from the Vatican, the diocese said yesterday.
He was on the diocesan payroll until hired by Habitat, and again will be paid by the diocese "in keeping with church law," receiving "some basic assistance now that he is unemployed, with the hope that he can find other work soon," the diocese said in a statement.